oped BTR letters & comments
Impeachment
Inquiry
Dear editor,
How is it that the GOP calls
the Impeachment Inquiry of
President Trump a ‘kangaroo
court’ when they’re the ones
hopping and dodging truth
and accountability?
sad note, two of the men that
were killed about a month ago
were from our unit from Fort
Bragg. I donated two fl ags
in their honor for the Veterans
Day Parade. Think about
someone you want to honor
and donate a fl ag (or make a
donation in their name) but
most of all be sure to come to
the parade and wave a fl ag for
all those who served in the
past, serving now and those
in the future.
Aunt Cathy Praino
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, O BTR CTOBER 18-24, 2019 13
Michael S. Wilbekin
Will MTA fund
Bx. projects?
Dear editor,
How the MTA will come
up with $51 billion to pay for
the next 2020 - 2024 Five Year
Capital Plan is far from certain.
A signifi cant portion is
dependent upon a number of
taxes and fees including Real
Estate Transfer and Internet
Sales Tax along with Congestion
Price Tolling which combined
equal $25 billion plus
$10.7 billion in anticipated
Federal Transit Administration
funding. There is no
guarantee of FTA providing
between $3 to $3.5 billion in
New Starts funding for Second
Avenue Subway Phase 2
which may cost up to $7 billion.
Second Avenue Subway
Phase 2 is competing against
the $12 billion Gateway Tunnel
project which is also looking
for $6 billion from the
same federal funding source.
Both desire FTA to issue Full
Funding Grant Agreements
in 2020 to secure funding from
Washington which will never
happen.
Funding both the same
year would leave nothing for
many other proposed New
Starts projects around the nation.
Congestion Pricing does
not kick in until January 2021
or the second year of a fi ve
year capital program. The fi -
nal details of who will pay
and how the collection system
will be installed have yet to be
worked out.
Elected offi cials continue
lobbying behind the scene for
exemptions some of which
may be adopted to placate different
constituencies.
The MTA may not be able
to count on all $15 billion in
congestion pricing funding.
A downturn in the economy
could result in less revenue
from the Real Estate Transfer
(look at the glut in unsold
Manhattan high rise luxury
apartments), Internet Sales
(how will this be collected and
many people will evade this by
having friends and neighbors
out of state purchase items for
them) and other tax income
sources.
Is it realistic to expect Albany
to provide $3 billion in
new direct aid given the state
still owes $7.3 billion in support
for the current MTA for
the 2015-2019 plan? The same
is true for City Hall providing
$3 billion who still owes $1.8
billion in support as well. The
plan assumes the MTA will
borrow another $10 billion in
new debt. How much will this
increase the MTA’s debt service
payments? Even without
including this new borrowing,
the MTA forecasts that its debt
will increase 31% by 2023 and
will cost $3.5 billion or more
annually. The MTA could easily
end up with a shortfall in
the billions.
Who knows if all the capital
projects that would benefi t
Bronx commuters will actually
end up being funded.
Larry Penner
Support
our troops
Dear editor,
To all helping us send packages
to the eight units we have
deployed I received two notes
from FDNY members deployed
- one in Kuwait and one in Afghanistan.
Thank you so much for the
packages - we love all the fun
stuff you sent. It was a real
moral booster.
TSGT Brown, Al Jabar Fire
Dept, Kuwait
and
Thank you for the multiple
packages! Donations like yours
serve as a reminder to our
troops that people back home
are always thinking of them.
We truly appreciate your support!
The Rock Chapel
Ali Al Salem Air Base
I thank all of you, this is
why we do it. We have the best
and they deserve the best. One
Overbuilding
continues
Dear editor,
The approval for a new
8-story, 26-family building has
gone through at 3531 Bruckner
Boulevard. The proposed
plans are to build right up
against the building at 3555
Bruckner Boulevard blocking
numerous windows on the
side of the building for folks
living in those apartments.
Also, hold onto your parking
spaces everyone. The only
parking that must be provided
is for 13 cars and these are
usually paid spaces that most
likely will remain unused. In
reality we can fi gure on a minimum
35 additional cars or so
most likely more as the average
family has two cars which
will bring that number to 52.
The property was formerly occupied
by two single-family
homes.
If the ‘powers that be’ refuse
to rezone the building
guidelines why not amend
the parking requirements for
this? Aside from parking, the
overall quality of life is being
severely impacted schools,
electrical infrasture, mail,
garbage. In return these developers
give zero back to the
community except for ugly
buildings with no curb appeal
and a whole lot of additional
traffi c in the neighborhood.
Patty Justiniano
Why I Oppose the
Mayor’s Rickers Plan
BY COUNCILMAN
REV. RUBEN DIAZ
You should know that after
reading an editorial that
was published on October 13
in the New York Post titled
‘The close-Rikers crusaders
left reason behind a long time
ago’ I have decided to explain
why I am going to cast my vote
on Thursday against the construction
of prisons in four
boroughs and the closing of
Rikers.
First, I would like to know
why in Mayor de Blasio’s
plans, Staten Island is not included
in the construction of
new prisons in New York City.
The four other boroughs are
included, while there is a lot
of potential space in Staten Island.
Second: As of today, no one
knows what is to be done with
the prime piece of real estate
where Rikers Island currently
sits? There has been an incredible
lack of transparency
by Mayor de Blasio’s Administration
about that valuable
property, and no public hearings
about that governmentowned
piece of land.
Third: Why does anyone
think that housing inmates
in skyscraper jails will ever
facilitate the rehabilitation of
incarcerated people?
According to the Post editorial:
“So the city still has time
to consider alternatives, like
the rebuild-at-Rikers alternative
drawn up by the architectural
fi rm of William Bialosky
and Partners…. Bialosky
points out that the Rikers lot
offers something pretty valuable
for building a truly humane
jail: space. Why pack
detainees into high-rise build-
ings when you can use existing
ones for a more diffused,
campus-like environment incorporating
better access to
daylight and greenery? The
45-page prospectus even calls
for plots where inmates can
grow crops.”
There is ample space at
Rikers Island for all sorts
of activities, none of which
will be possible in any highrise
cages. Mayor de Blasio’s
proposal to close Rikers will
not improve the lives of New
York’s inmates.
My dear reader, don’t be
fooled.
Incarcerated people need
programs to help them to become
rehabilitated so they
can return to their families
and loved ones, re-enter society
and get jobs, and not be
tempted to a life of recidivism.
Our focus should not be how to
prosper real estate developers
so they can create new correctional
center complexes in our
boroughs.
You should also know that
Mayor de Blasio somehow intends
to reduce the number
of inmates down to 3,300, and
he has built that dream into
his plan, giving no consideration
to any possible crime
wave.
It is also important for you
to keep in mind that these proposed
plans are not expected
to go into effect until 2026,
otherwise known as “the out
years,” in the distant future
when Mayor de Blasio will no
longer be in offi ce.
Ladies and gentlemen, I
urge my colleagues in the City
Council to reconsider where
our focus needs to be: not on
new jails, and not on the closing
of Rikers Island.
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
Letters to the editor are welcome from all readers.
They should be addressed care of this newspaper
to Laura Guerriero, Publisher, the Bronx Times
Reporter, 3604 E. Tremont Ave., Bronx, NY 10465,
or e-mail to bronxtimes@cnglocal.com. All letters,
including those submitted via e-mail, MUST be
signed and with a verifi able address and telephone
number included. Note that the address and telephone
number will NOT be published and the name
will be published or withheld upon request. No unsigned
letters can be accepted for publication. The
editor reserves the right to edit all submissions.
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